


Nowhere Elaborated

by carolinecrane



Series: Aftermath [35]
Category: The Brotherhood 2: Young Warlocks (2001)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-05
Updated: 2011-05-05
Packaged: 2017-10-19 01:09:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/195218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carolinecrane/pseuds/carolinecrane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It still surprises him how much he likes having Marcus around all the time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nowhere Elaborated

Marcus has taken over his home office.  Not that Harlan really minds, because he never used it much anyway, even before Marcus moved in.  Besides, it means Marcus is almost always there when he gets home, pale skin glowing in the light from the computer monitor, fingers flying on the keyboard and Harlan never thought the sound of keys clicking would start to feel like home.

There's a whiteboard in his office now, standing out in sharp contrast against the walnut paneling and the dark leather chairs the interior decorator chose so carefully.  There are sketches of strange characters taped up on the walls, piles of paper on every available surface and Harlan long ago gave up trying to get Marcus to keep his stuff in some kind of order.

He doesn't mind, not really, because it means Marcus is always around, coding or talking to his fans on those online message boards or sending instant messages to his computer geek friends out in Chicago.  And he's not jealous, because yeah, those guys are part of a life that Harlan still doesn't know much about, but they only get words on a screen and Harlan…Harlan gets everything else.

He gets Marcus in their apartment every night when he comes home, gets a warm body pressed against him when he wakes up in the morning.  He gets to be the one who makes Marcus smile in that way that he's pretty sure nobody else ever gets to see, and he's the one who drags Marcus away from his computer long enough to get some fresh air.  Sometimes it's just a cup of coffee at the Starbucks down the street, other times it's some work function, and Marcus always complains the whole time, but Harlan doesn't care as long as he's there.

In fact, he kind of likes that Marcus hates all the work parties Harlan drags him to, because it means spending the whole evening whispering promises about what he's going to do to make it up to Marcus when they get home.  And when they do finally make it home, Marcus never even makes noise about checking his e-mail before he lets Harlan drag him into the bedroom. 

It still surprises him how much he likes having Marcus around all the time, how much he likes doing stuff he never bothered with before.  Like making coffee before he leaves for the office just so it will be there when Marcus wakes up, instead of stopping at the corner to buy a latte on his way into work.  He owns a travel mug now, has a special ring tone on his phone to let him know when Marcus is calling even before he looks at the screen. 

He takes personal calls in the middle of business meetings, doesn't care who sees him smiling at the sound of Marcus' voice.  And he's not stupid enough to think no one at work is talking about the fact that he's sleeping with a client, but he doesn't really care about that either.  Not when he knows what it took to get to this point, how long he waited until Marcus finally turned up again and how close he came to giving up on Marcus altogether.

Marcus is in his office when he gets home, tapping away at the keyboard and Harlan sets his briefcase down on the table and loosens his tie before he crosses the apartment to the office.  The sun's been down for awhile, because it's winter and Harlan's been wrapped up in long, boring negotiations all week, but Marcus hasn't noticed yet.  He's sitting there in the dark, the glow from the monitor the only light in the room, and for a few minutes Harlan leans against the doorframe and watches him.

He always liked watching Marcus, even back when they were still in high school.  He can't remember all the time he spent watching Marcus sleep or study or even just _breathe_ , and it's no different now.  He still likes watching, and if Marcus ever notices he doesn't really seem to mind.  So Harlan takes his time before he pushes himself off the door and crosses the room, hands landing on Marcus' shoulders to knead at his muscles as he leans in to see what Marcus is doing.

"Hey," he says, voice low and close to Marcus' ear and he feels Marcus' shoulders relax under his grip.

"Hey.  What time is it?"

"Late," Harlan answers, still watching Marcus' fingers fly across the keyboard.  He's writing code, gibberish flying across the screen and Harlan doesn't even try to understand it.  The end product is the important part, at least as far as he's concerned, and he doesn't need to understand what Marcus does all day to know how easy it is for him to get lost in it.  "Have you eaten anything?"

"Yeah, I had a sandwich…I don't know, awhile ago."

Harlan doesn't bother to roll his eyes or lecture Marcus about eating regularly.  He knows it won't do any good, so he swallows a joke about how Marcus is just lucky Harlan's around to take care of him.  Instead he just leans a little closer and brushes a soft kiss against Marcus' neck, smiling against warm skin when he feels the shudder roll through Marcus' body.  "Come on, I'll buy you dinner.  Then I'm taking you to bed."

Marcus laughs, but he glances up at Harlan long enough to grin.  "Sounds like an offer I can't refuse."

"That's the idea," Harlan answers, straightening up and letting go of Marcus' shoulders.  "Just give me a couple minutes to change."

Marcus nods and turns back to the computer, and Harlan knows when he comes back Marcus will still be engrossed in whatever piece of code he's working on.  But he doesn't really mind, because as soon as Harlan gets him away from the keyboard, all that intense focus will be directed at him. 

And that, he knows from experience, is worth waiting for.


End file.
